Smithy wrote:You were able to chop those roots really hard back to just big ones. Can all Acers take this.

I have done this before with Tridents with no ill effects. They do root very easily. I don't see why you can't do this with other maples but if your worried, just do a few one year and see how those roots have responded the following year.

I agree that A buergerianum roots like an Olive! I have seen them literally chainsawed off at ground level, in spring and rerooted (on a heated cable admittedly). I wouldn't try that with A palmatum or any of its varieties. But they do dig quite easily, with a reasonable amount of fine root retained.

_________________“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” - Charles Darwin.